Conceptual Design:
From User Requirements to User Interface
Kathy Potosnak
Interface Concepts
28522 State Highway 104 NE
Kingston, WA 98346 USA
+1 360 297 2500
kathyp@interfaceconcepts.com
ABSTRACT
This half-day tutorial introduces a semi-structured conceptual design framework that helps product teams bridge the gulf between user requirements and detailed user interface design. It covers the background, benefits, process, and hands-on application of the framework to a simple example project.
Keywords
Conceptual design, cognitive models, design methods, design process, design techniques, measurable objectives, product design, software design, task analysis, task model, user requirements, usability, user interface design, user-centered design
INTRODUCTION
This half-day tutorial introduces conceptual design and a seven-step framework for creating conceptual designs. It teaches the what, why, and how of conceptual design.
Conceptual design involves explicitly defining the ideas or concepts underlying the user interface of a product. It describes how the designers intend for users to think about the product. Conceptual design covers what a product is, what it does, and how it does it. Once a good conceptual design has been developed, a user interface can be designed which clearly and accurately expresses the underlying concepts.
All products have conceptual designs. If the conceptual model of a product is not designed explicitly, one (or more) will be created implicitly by the people developing the product.
Many usability problems can be traced to poor, inconsistent, incomplete, or competing conceptual designs. Explicitly creating a good conceptual design up front is more cost effective than fixing conceptual problems that are discovered later in the development process.
OBJECTIVES
This tutorial is intended to provide attendees with
· a clear understanding of the purpose and value of the conceptual design of products;
· information about how to create a conceptual design for a product; and
· hands-on experience with a user-centered conceptual design framework.
AUDIENCE
This workshop is recommended for everyone who participates in software design activities, including software engineers, developers, programmers, user interface designers, engineering managers, program managers, usability professionals, and others. The course material is appropriate for beginners as well as seasoned professionals.
CONTENT
Rather than delve directly into creating menus, dialogs, widgets, forms, or other user interface elements, conceptual design focuses the design effort on the underlying concepts, and results in the creation of a model of the user interface for the product. The user interface model clearly and accurately represents the conceptual design to the user and guides the detailed design of the user interface contents.
The conceptual design framework synthesizes many user-centered design principles and practices. It involves the following seven activities:
1. Define a central concept: A concise statement of what the product is and what it is not. Its purpose is to clearly define the boundaries of the product.
2. Describe users and their requirements: A list of what is important to the target users, such as getting work done quickly, being in charge, and feeling successful.
3. Define and prioritize measurable objectives and constraints: Objectives are the goals for the design such as automation of repetitive tasks, user control over the functionality of the product, and appropriate